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Gabriel's Wing: A Study into the Religious Ideas of Sir Muhammad Iqbal
Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. Internationally renowned, she was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992. For her works on Islam, Sufism, and Muhammad Iqbal, a prominent philosopher and national poet of Pakistan, the government of Pakistan honored Schimmel with its highest civil awards, – Sitara-e-Imtiaz, or Star of Excellence, by Government of Pakistan – Hilal-e-Imtiaz, or Crescent of Excellence,[6] by Government of Pakistan, She was given other awards from many countries of the world, including the 1995 prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. This award caused a controversy in Germany, as she had defended the outrage of the Islamic world against Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses (1988), a novel, in a television interview. Schimmel’s award speech is available online in translation, entitled “A Good Word Is Like a Good Tree.”
- GenresIslam
443 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
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About the author
Annemarie Schimmel
164 books323 followers(Arabic: آنا ماري شيمل)
was a well known and very influential German Orientalist and scholar, who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.
..
مستشرقة المانية ولدت في مدينة إرفورت بوسط ألمانيا لعائلة بروتستانتية تنتمي إلى الطبقة الوسطى..في عام 1939 نزحت مع الأسرة إلى برلين وفيها بدأت دراستها الجامعية للأستشراق. وبعد عام واحد بدأت العمل على رسالتها للدكتوراة حول مكانة علماء الدين في المجتمع المملوكى تحت إشراف ريشارد هارتمان وقد انتهت منها في نوفمبر 1941 وهى في التاسعة عشر من عمرها ونشرتها عام 1943 في مجلة "عالم الإسلام" تحت عنوان "الخليفة والقاضى في مصر في العصور الوسطى المتأخرة".
وفى نوفمبر من عام 1941 عملت كمترجمة عن التركية في وزارة الخارجية الألمانية. وفى وقت الفراغ واصلت اهتمامها العلمى بتاريخ المماليك حتى تمكنت من عمل فهارس لتاريخ ابن إياس. وفى مارس 1945، قبيل نهاية الحرب العالمية الثانية بقليل، انتهت من رسالة الدكتوراه في جامعة برلين عن الطبقة العسكرية المملوكية.
وقد احرزت،، في عام 1995 وكأول مستشرقة ودارسة للإسلام جائزة السلام الألمانية التي يمنحها اتحاد الناشرين الألمان ويسلمها رئيس الدولة الألمانى.
was a well known and very influential German Orientalist and scholar, who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.
..
مستشرقة المانية ولدت في مدينة إرفورت بوسط ألمانيا لعائلة بروتستانتية تنتمي إلى الطبقة الوسطى..في عام 1939 نزحت مع الأسرة إلى برلين وفيها بدأت دراستها الجامعية للأستشراق. وبعد عام واحد بدأت العمل على رسالتها للدكتوراة حول مكانة علماء الدين في المجتمع المملوكى تحت إشراف ريشارد هارتمان وقد انتهت منها في نوفمبر 1941 وهى في التاسعة عشر من عمرها ونشرتها عام 1943 في مجلة "عالم الإسلام" تحت عنوان "الخليفة والقاضى في مصر في العصور الوسطى المتأخرة".
وفى نوفمبر من عام 1941 عملت كمترجمة عن التركية في وزارة الخارجية الألمانية. وفى وقت الفراغ واصلت اهتمامها العلمى بتاريخ المماليك حتى تمكنت من عمل فهارس لتاريخ ابن إياس. وفى مارس 1945، قبيل نهاية الحرب العالمية الثانية بقليل، انتهت من رسالة الدكتوراه في جامعة برلين عن الطبقة العسكرية المملوكية.
وقد احرزت،، في عام 1995 وكأول مستشرقة ودارسة للإسلام جائزة السلام الألمانية التي يمنحها اتحاد الناشرين الألمان ويسلمها رئيس الدولة الألمانى.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 6, 2023
Iqbal is regarded by Pakistani’s as the birthmark of their nation. Familiarity with his poetry is considered to be a sign of the cultivated and intellectual elite.
In ‘Gabriels’ Wing’, Annemarie Schimmel tries to present a fair appraisal of Iqbal and in that regard the book performs its function very well.
The reader is left with a more nuanced view of Iqbal than is generally portrayed by the adoring historians and politicians.
Iqbal was amongst the scores of bright young men who were born at a time when the power of British Empire was beginning to wane. Unlike his peers he never studied in England but did his post doctoral studies in Germany. For this reason it can be argued that he was not swayed by the sense of deference that his contemporaries like Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Syed Ahmed Khan felt.
This does highlight a distinguishing feature of Iqbal: he possessed an independent mind, one that was able to absorb the philosophies of Hegel, Nietszsche and Goethe but still understand their relative inadequacies in context of the society he was living in. It can be said that his idea of Pakistan being an Islamic emblem came from his appreciation of the way Germany had fused the self-respect of its citizens with pride in the nation-state. In view of this it seems surprising that Iqbal did not foresee that such an attitude would lead to violent intolerance of religious minorities.
Such political naiveté does seem at odds with the popular idea that Iqbal was the greatest genius of his generation. But Schimmel does make the point that Iqbal was not infallible, he did vacillate on some key issues.
In his previous book ‘The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam’ he professed a sincere admiration of Kamal Ataturk and the way he had modernised Turkey whilst keeping intact its Islamic identity. In his later poems he attacks Ataturk for forsaking his religion by blindly emulating the West.
He calls the writings of Ibn Arabi as being impious and heretical yet later on praises him. He condemns the seminal Sufi martyr, Mansur Hallaj, and yet subsequently praised him in his poetry. He even at the outset appears to have been in favour of the Ahmadi sect, later though he did see through their fallacies.
Even his scientific ideas seem to be very fanciful considering the depth of his Western education. For example he seems to have seriously considered the idea that the other planets were inhabited by a higher forms of beings.
That said; his analysis of the ills of the Muslim world was very astute. He despaired of the inane customs of the clergy and their hair-splitting theology. He criticised the practices of the Sufi sects but nonetheless recognised the paramount importance of the mystical experience.
This was an aspect of Iqbal’s work that I felt Schimmel did not do enough justice to. Iqbal’s contribution to Islamic philosophy was his exposition of the evolution of ‘Khudi’ (self) and ‘fana’ (annihiliation).
Oriental scholars of mysticism had erroneously stated that the sense of self or Khudi is obliterated when the soul reaches that state of ‘fana’; the apogee of its journey to God.
Iqbal with great perspicacity saw the flaws in this explanation. He realised that you cannot explain a mystical process in physical terms. The soul’s proximity to God cannot be measured in any physical sense. It can only be calibrated in terms of intensity. During this journey, Khudi is not effaced but evolves to the point where it reflects its inherent image of God.
Schimmel does point out that Iqbal’s idea of the ideal Muslim woman would probably jar with the empowered Muslim women of today. He seems to have had the idea that every Muslim woman should be demure, chaste and submissive to her husband and family. I found his characterisation of the Suffragete movement as ‘cry for husbands not for votes’ to be unintentionally funny.
Iqbal’s concept of Pakistan as an Islamic utopia displayed what I felt to be a flaw in his thinking. A tendency to gloss over the brutal realities of life at that time with a poet’s wand. He did seem to entertain the idea of Pakistan being run by a Sufi theocracy and presided by a Plato type of Philosopher King. But this idea was not expounded upon even though he was a member of the Qadiri order.
Although not fluent in Persian; I have decided to read Javid Nama to get a sense of his reputed poetical genius.
In ‘Gabriels’ Wing’, Annemarie Schimmel tries to present a fair appraisal of Iqbal and in that regard the book performs its function very well.
The reader is left with a more nuanced view of Iqbal than is generally portrayed by the adoring historians and politicians.
Iqbal was amongst the scores of bright young men who were born at a time when the power of British Empire was beginning to wane. Unlike his peers he never studied in England but did his post doctoral studies in Germany. For this reason it can be argued that he was not swayed by the sense of deference that his contemporaries like Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Syed Ahmed Khan felt.
This does highlight a distinguishing feature of Iqbal: he possessed an independent mind, one that was able to absorb the philosophies of Hegel, Nietszsche and Goethe but still understand their relative inadequacies in context of the society he was living in. It can be said that his idea of Pakistan being an Islamic emblem came from his appreciation of the way Germany had fused the self-respect of its citizens with pride in the nation-state. In view of this it seems surprising that Iqbal did not foresee that such an attitude would lead to violent intolerance of religious minorities.
Such political naiveté does seem at odds with the popular idea that Iqbal was the greatest genius of his generation. But Schimmel does make the point that Iqbal was not infallible, he did vacillate on some key issues.
In his previous book ‘The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam’ he professed a sincere admiration of Kamal Ataturk and the way he had modernised Turkey whilst keeping intact its Islamic identity. In his later poems he attacks Ataturk for forsaking his religion by blindly emulating the West.
He calls the writings of Ibn Arabi as being impious and heretical yet later on praises him. He condemns the seminal Sufi martyr, Mansur Hallaj, and yet subsequently praised him in his poetry. He even at the outset appears to have been in favour of the Ahmadi sect, later though he did see through their fallacies.
Even his scientific ideas seem to be very fanciful considering the depth of his Western education. For example he seems to have seriously considered the idea that the other planets were inhabited by a higher forms of beings.
That said; his analysis of the ills of the Muslim world was very astute. He despaired of the inane customs of the clergy and their hair-splitting theology. He criticised the practices of the Sufi sects but nonetheless recognised the paramount importance of the mystical experience.
This was an aspect of Iqbal’s work that I felt Schimmel did not do enough justice to. Iqbal’s contribution to Islamic philosophy was his exposition of the evolution of ‘Khudi’ (self) and ‘fana’ (annihiliation).
Oriental scholars of mysticism had erroneously stated that the sense of self or Khudi is obliterated when the soul reaches that state of ‘fana’; the apogee of its journey to God.
Iqbal with great perspicacity saw the flaws in this explanation. He realised that you cannot explain a mystical process in physical terms. The soul’s proximity to God cannot be measured in any physical sense. It can only be calibrated in terms of intensity. During this journey, Khudi is not effaced but evolves to the point where it reflects its inherent image of God.
Schimmel does point out that Iqbal’s idea of the ideal Muslim woman would probably jar with the empowered Muslim women of today. He seems to have had the idea that every Muslim woman should be demure, chaste and submissive to her husband and family. I found his characterisation of the Suffragete movement as ‘cry for husbands not for votes’ to be unintentionally funny.
Iqbal’s concept of Pakistan as an Islamic utopia displayed what I felt to be a flaw in his thinking. A tendency to gloss over the brutal realities of life at that time with a poet’s wand. He did seem to entertain the idea of Pakistan being run by a Sufi theocracy and presided by a Plato type of Philosopher King. But this idea was not expounded upon even though he was a member of the Qadiri order.
Although not fluent in Persian; I have decided to read Javid Nama to get a sense of his reputed poetical genius.
October 7, 2023
10/10
The author does a wonderful job at trying to tie down the wild falcon that is the subject. Iqbal's thoughts which often appear contradictory are sifted through and are not only presented clearly but the author also manages to trace their roots through Iqbal's changing thoughts and the myriad influences working on his inspired mind. An absolute must read for anyone interested in the strange bard whose tunes carved out a nation and continue to shape the path humanity trudges along.
The author does a wonderful job at trying to tie down the wild falcon that is the subject. Iqbal's thoughts which often appear contradictory are sifted through and are not only presented clearly but the author also manages to trace their roots through Iqbal's changing thoughts and the myriad influences working on his inspired mind. An absolute must read for anyone interested in the strange bard whose tunes carved out a nation and continue to shape the path humanity trudges along.
July 21, 2014
Nyo buku bercerita tentang karya sidroe tokoh rayeuk muslim cendikiawan abad 20. Nan beliau Muhammad Iqbal lahee di Sialkot Wilayah Punjab (Pakistan Barat).
Dalam perspektif Annemarie Schimmel, sosok Muhammad Iqbal nyan lagee ureung bergelar "Nabi". Tapi han mungken sabab bertentangan deungon kepercayaan umat Islam pada umum jih. Pih lagee nyan, karena karya-karya beliau cukup that hebat watee masa nyan, mantong menurut Annemarie Schimmel bahwa Muhammad Iqbal ka disentuh oleh sayeup malaikat Jibril (Gabriel's Wings).
Dalam perspektif Annemarie Schimmel, sosok Muhammad Iqbal nyan lagee ureung bergelar "Nabi". Tapi han mungken sabab bertentangan deungon kepercayaan umat Islam pada umum jih. Pih lagee nyan, karena karya-karya beliau cukup that hebat watee masa nyan, mantong menurut Annemarie Schimmel bahwa Muhammad Iqbal ka disentuh oleh sayeup malaikat Jibril (Gabriel's Wings).
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October 26, 2010dapat edisi terjemahan indonesia-nya.
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March 15, 2016It's book about moslem's literature, that i'am interest for reading this book and hope will give me more knowledge or understanding
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews